Anakin character development: did the "Clone Wars" cartoon do it better?

i have to say yes. there are some very key symbolic points in the cartoon that aren't even touched on in the PT:

he uses his rage to kill that Sith-wanna be chick with her red saber. then he screams out under a red moon...awesome!

he has a flashback of Qui-Gon and then later tells Obi-Wan hes not as wise as Jinn, admitting that he misses him. thats the main stuff i remember. plus, he just came off much...cooler

what do you all think?

 

I don't know. When Anakin ate those bugs in chapt 22 (i think), i just never pictured him eating bugs. But besides of that, he was a beast. He definately developed into a powerhouse. He was invincible. This probably belongs in the small screen forum.

 

yeah, it may get moved...but im seeking a comparision to the PT, thats why.

he was cool as heck though wasnt he?!?!

 

Yeah, that is the moderators deal.

 

I'm not sure about better, but it was a good transition from AOTC Anakin to ROTS Anakin.

 

i think anakin's character was deeper and more enjoyable in the cartoon series.....wow......how many times does a cartoon more accurately portray a character than a film??? the anakin from the cartoon series fits more in line with what i've been waiting to see from anakin skywalker since ROTJ. IMHO the film version of anakin was seemingly "incomplete" emotionally and never manifested enough true power on-screen to suggest any "chosen one" status was within his limits........even eventually.

 

I don't think it was done better.

 

Sadly a cartoon did better than the films.

 

The acting of Anakin was great in Clone Wars compared to the movies.

 

Your not serious. It is just a voice over. I swear we are never going to get over it. Quit with the bashing.

 

I liked his darkside moments in the cartoon better. My fav was when Ani killed that Techno Union guy with the force. Ouch.

 

yeah that was my take. it is kinda sad

 

OF COURES IT DID.

 

yep.

 

The flashback didn't make any sense, seeing Qui Gon was killed slightly after finding Anakin. Ch 19 is one of my favorite SW moments, however the series doesn't do better than the movies.

 

It's funny that yall are comparing the cartoon Anakin to the real, film Anakin. The cartoon was meant to develop his character a bit during the wars and to correspond with the films, which I think it did a decent job of doing. But i'd be lying if I said that the cartoon showed a better Anakin than Lucas, the man who created him in the first place.

 

Ditto

 

The cartoons gave the fanboys what they wanted, non-stop action.

The best parts of the cartoon as far as the development of Anakin through the cartoon were: his battle w/ Asajj and touching of darkside, Anakin's knighthood, and his experience in the cave.


The movie developed Anakin as a tragic hero. Gave him humble beginnings, saw him rise, saw his fall, and his redemption.


While the cartoons added to the character, it was the movies that truely told his story.

 

Attack of the Clones was a horrible movie, plain horrible. The clone war cartoon (Vol. 1) did an awesome job for the 1 hour and 3 minutes (20 chapters). In fact, not to upset some fans here on the boards, but I remeber reading an article that between the first volume of cartoons and the first Knights of the Old Republic video game, it squarely spanked both TPM and AOTC. Every time someone mentions those two movies, reagrdless of where I have been (internet, movies, park, stores, malls, friends etc.), they have all said the same thing give or take. It sucked. On the other hand, many people loved the rpg video game, and most (not all) loved the cartoon. The cartoon took a lot of flak from the die-hard eu fans.

 

The "Star Wars" films have never had "character development" as a particular matter of precedence, nor should they - the pictures are highly derivative, "Saturday-matinee" space operas, whose primary focus lies in the visuals, action, and sense of adventure. The characters are mostly based upon a couple of crude and somewhat obvious personality traits, and the degree to which these films suggest a 'development' in this regard, pertains to the manner in which various figures grow or change over the course of a three to six-film cycle. Therefore, there is little 'character development' to begin with, so the point in question is somewhat moot. Nonetheless, I shall do my best to answer the query in a reasonable manner.

As much as I admire the "Clone Wars" animated series, I don't find its characters particularly convincing; to some extent, I suppose this is inevitable, due to the relatively scant running time with which the episodes are conceived. For me, the series' basic appeal is in its well-constructed action scenes - thus, the scope of their impact is rather fleeting - enjoyable, yet innocuous. The CW cartoons rely on a schematic of plot and character points that, while rounded nicely, are realized more out of structural necessity, rather than any sort of internal dramatic urgency. The prequels have presented two basic incarnations of Anakin's character: first, as a young boy in "Episode I," and then as a conflicted, angst-ridden teenager in "Episode II"; there is a large enough gap between the two installments that we as viewers are asked to make a variety of inferences from the sub textual material that is implied throughout the story arc. "Revenge of the Sith" is then the culmination of this character, in which Hayden Christensen's Anakin would appear to encompass particular facets of each of those previous character "incarnations." This conceit is based on three distinct tiers of development: "Episode I" introduced the cited protagonist and served as an expository framework from which the subsequent film would be built; "Episode II" advanced the undeveloped thematic materials that were conveyed in the previous installment, while providing further expository passages that would ultimately contextualize Anakin?s submission to Palpatine in the third film. As a result of the transpirations contained within "Revenge of the Sith," Lucas? strategy becomes more apparent; even if one dislikes how said material was realized, it would be difficult to dismiss its relative necessity in terms of the larger picture.

What the animated series lacks, and what I feel to be present in the films is the level of psychological specificity that Christensen imparts onto his character; we can grasp his turmoil in a way that is genuine, whereas in the cartoon, this character is seen so briefly that his plight merely seems depersonalized and artificial ? there?s nothing at stake. I do not deny the entertainment value of the CW cartoon series, but the parameters of its construction do not afford this level of character detail; it makes its points without really hitting them home, so to speak.

The time-frame which exists between Episodes I and II has caused a small amount of furor amongst members of the fan base, I am aware, and yes, it does force us to draw our own conclusions as to the more peculiar aspects of Anakin's character; this is also, as I have indicated, not unfamiliar to the "Star Wars" films. Although there was not the same sort of chronological lapse between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," a number of people were put off by the degree to which Luke had matured off-screen; some of ROTJ's detractors will suggest that Luke was aggressive and unlikable in that film, with the picture itself giving little else to offer aside from the aforementioned nod to "maturation." Such is the case with these sorts of serialized adventure sagas, I suppose; this isn't Strindberg, in which case one would expect to be presented with a rich and nuanced consideration of character psychology, and so to be critic

 

Great post, Tyranus_the_Hutt.

I haven't seen episodes 21-25 of CW yet (I'm waiting for it to come out on DVD), but I just saw the first twenty last night for the first time and loved it! It was very fun. But--even with my limited exposure to the cartoon in mind, and I admit it could be wrong since I haven't seen the whole thing--I have to agree with Tyranus on this.

 

I'm not bashing just giving my opinion I never said i hated him or called him names for myself i enjoyed the Clone Wars better than AOTC where the ROTS was better because in my opinion Ewan and Ian's acting was so awsome it carried the film along with great CGI. Hayden did improve in ROTS but in AOTC he was not up to par so to speak where the voice over in Clone Wars seemed better.

 

The Clone Wars cartoons are fun, a nice little bridge between Episodes 2 and 3, but they are hardly rich in character development. I think some are overestimating the cartoons' dialogue, acting, character development, etc. just as some overestimate the same in ESB. While there are occasional moments in the cartoons which show Anakin's inevitable journey toward the Dark Side, I would not label those "character development," exactly. More like an extra hint here and there of what we already know is going to take place.

As for the acting, I completely disagree that it is better in the cartoons than the movies (especially when it comes to the portrayal of Anakin -- whoever provides the voice in the cartoons seems to be trying too hard to imitate Hayden), and as for the dialogue, I find I much prefer the sequences in the cartoons that have little or no dialogue, because the writers tend to be overly referential ("We will send our best pilot and most cunning warrior"), something I find annoying. While I think the CW cartoons are superior to much of the rest of the Expanded Universe material, at least in terms of being closer to the spirit of SW, it still has many of the EU's irksome traits: hyper-exaggerated Force powers, the aforementioned overly referential dialogue.

Tyranus is correct, SW has never been about character development per se. Those who grumble that a lot took place off-screen in the PT overlook that the same is true of the OT.

I enjoy the CW cartoons, quite a bit. But they are in no way superior to the movies.

he uses his rage to kill that Sith-wanna be chick with her red saber. then he screams out under a red moon...awesome!

That's a cool-looking moment, but I wonder how it provides more character development than what he does in the movies.

he has a flashback of Qui-Gon and then later tells Obi-Wan hes not as wise as Jinn, admitting that he misses him. thats the main stuff i remember. plus, he just came off much...cooler

Perhaps he does, but again, I wonder how that indicates character development.

 

Reagrdless of Tyranus's theory, it does not change the image that Episode 1 and 2 have with people. The cartoons were short, yes I agree. But overall, they were succesful were the first two movies really weren't. Like I said, Knights of the Old Republic video game (over 30 Game of the Year Awards) and the clone wars cartoon series (2 Emmy award winner)were very good. It has been the only thing in the last 6 years to recieve accolades. Not to knock anything else. The Phantom Menace made approxiamtely $925 million dollars in the total worldwide box-office, and it has been the most critized of movies. I think it won about 7 of those rasberry awards or something like that (the ones that say your the worst). I even remember the first Matrix (approximately $450 million worldwide, oscar special effects winner) clearly being the favorite among people. That movie made less than TPM and was way better recieved than TPM.

 

EDIT: decided to erase my response to vong333's flamebaiting post.